


Like you'll love me even when I'm gone

by LenaLawlipop



Series: Sugar and Spice Witcher Bingo [5]
Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Love Confessions, Loyalty, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 02:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29867844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LenaLawlipop/pseuds/LenaLawlipop
Summary: The thing was, Jaskier was many things — among them, a renowned fool — but he wasn't a traitor. Jaskier was many things, and among them, he was unfailingly loyal, and Geralt was beginning to suspect he would trust the bard with his life... if he thought the bard could save his life somehow, but that was beside the point.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: Sugar and Spice Witcher Bingo [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2195886
Comments: 3
Kudos: 87
Collections: Sugar and Spice Witcher Bingo





	Like you'll love me even when I'm gone

**Author's Note:**

> I made myself cry multiple times with this one, my heart breaks every time I write something with characters where only one of them is immortal/immortal-ish TT___TT
> 
> Prompt: Loyalty

The thing was, Jaskier was many things — among them, a renowned fool — but he wasn't a traitor. Jaskier was many things, and among them, he was unfailingly loyal, and Geralt was beginning to suspect he would trust the bard with his life... if he thought the bard could save his life somehow, but that was beside the point.

It had started out... small. Simple. He'd allowed Jaskier to ask questions, he'd answered some, and eventually he'd found himself realizing that Jaskier _knew_ him. Really knew him. He'd read between the lines of what Geralt wasn't saying, and he'd figured out more of him than Geralt had been sure he wanted to really say.

Then he'd found that Jaskier not only knew him, but respected him. And again, it had been so small. Playing so much more quietly when they were alone in the path than he did whenever he was performing, realizing his Witcher senses allowed him to pick up on the nuances of the music regardless of how quiet it was. Changing his usual scents the moment they met on the path to softer fragrances, wearing less of them in general, bathing before they set out to traveling together, so he could get rid of the intense perfumes he seemed to favor. Ordering foods he knew Geralt liked, making sure Geralt ate enough, exchanging the fucking _turnips_ on his plate for Jaskier's own carrots, because somehow, at some point, he seemed to have found out that Geralt hated turnips.

And it was so bizarre.

His family knew him, and he was used to them respecting his space, to them understanding the peculiarities of Witcher life. They were Witchers, they were supposed to understand! But Jaskier, good old Jaskier, who was not only human, but also a self-involved prat most of the time... Jaskier wasn't supposed to understand. Geralt hadn't expected him to.

It hadn't stopped at the small things, either.

Jaskier met him after winters with a new flask of the oil he used to clean his sword, the only one he could procure without getting involved with magic or potion brewing. He bought him potion ingredients, which weren't always cheap. He argued with innkeepers who didn't want Geralt around, and he had, in one memorable occasion, argued with the owner of a brothel after he found out that they had a special tax on Witchers. They'd been thrown out, but Jaskier had been so angry at the time that Geralt didn't even have it in him to be annoyed. He'd tried not to smile like an idiot whenever he heard Jaskier huff or mutter to himself for the rest of the evening. He had pulled the bard close later that night, and while he'd told him it was so he would shut up, Geralt wasn't stupid.

Even then, he had been on the cusp of really understanding whatever it was they had, hanging between them, unsaid.

Because it wasn't just that Jaskier was an utter fool, and that he seemed to enjoy Geralt's company, or even that he profited from going on hunts with him and turning them all into heavily revised songs. Handing Geralt a present here and there would be fine then. Getting thrown out of multiple establishments across the continent, and getting into more bar fights than Geralt could count... Geralt wasn't blind.

And for a while, he'd let it be. However devoted Jaskier was to their friendship, it would have to be enough. What business did a human have with a Witcher? It was just doomed to fail from the beginning, and Jaskier was already tempting fate enough by being friends with him. He tried to keep his distance, and for a while, after their argument on that mountain, he truly thought he'd managed to drive him away after all. But he should have known better, of course. A few months later, there Jaskier was again, seemingly having found his words again, and hurling many of them back at Geralt for the injustice. Geralt had been too busy trying to hide his relief to be upset. If anything, he admitted to the bard, he deserved some of them.

But his words weren't the only thing that Jaskier had found after their separation. After they talked for hours, about the mountain, the dragon quest, Yennefer, Borch, Geralt himself... about destiny, and the djinn, and the child surprise. After they talked about all that, Jaskier squared his shoulders, seemingly having found his courage. And while Geralt didn't know exactly what he was about to say, he knew this was where they parted ways for sure. No matter if Jaskier decided he'd had enough, or chose to finally put all his cards on the table, Geralt's answer would be the same.

"I'm in love with you," Jaskier told him, simply. No flowery language, but when Geralt forced himself to meet his eye, there was nothing insincere about it. "I've known that _you_ have known this for a long time, so I never made you address it, but I'm done hoping that you will, I'm done breaking my own heart. So I'll say it again. I love you, Geralt of Rivia."

Geralt wanted to close his eyes. He wanted to stop looking at Jaskier, wanted to move away, save them both the pain, but he found he couldn't look away. He drank on Jaskier's image, his scent, his warmth next to him, like it would be the last time he'd have the chance. The bard smirked, knowingly.

"Yeah. I know," he said. Geralt was about to ask, when Jaskier reached up to caress his cheek, and he realized he was wiping away tears. When had he started crying...? "You're going to be very sorry, and you're going to tell me a human shouldn't love a Witcher, and that you're not good for me, and I'm definitely not good for you. I know, Geralt. But I'll still choose to love you, no matter where I meet my end. It might be today, or it might be years from now, but know that even if you leave me behind now, I will always keep you in my heart."

There was the flowery language, Geralt's mind supplied, while the rest of it remained entirely blank, almost blissfully so.

"I'm sorry, Geralt," Jaskier added, his voice throaty now, and when Geralt looked him in the eye again, he was also tearing up. "But I love you. I tried to be your friend, for so long, you know? The most loyal friend you could have. But I fear I haven't managed to do that well at all, because I love you most painfully, and I can't keep that quiet any longer. Not after what happened last year, and what you've told me today... So there it is now. You have a proper excuse to leave me behind, and I will die knowing that I at least got to say it to your face, and not only when you're sleeping, or when you're too far away to hear me."

It took Geralt a few seconds more than it should to react. Jaskier had stood up, and he'd turned to leave, but he froze in place when Geralt grabbed his wrist to stop him. He started to shiver, so intensely that it almost scared Geralt.

"Please," he pleaded, and Geralt couldn't see him, but he could hear and scent his tears. "Don't be cruel to me. I'm a poet, Geralt. I'm meant to love, and I won't apologize for it."

Geralt didn't have pretty words. He barely had any words at all right then. But he pulled Jaskier back until his back collided with his chest, and, surrounded by the familiar scent of him, threw away years of caution with a single sentence.

"Then don't," he whispered. "Don't apologize, Jaskier. Tell me again."

"I love you, Geralt," Jaskier managed, his voice trembling uncontrollably as sobs wracked his shoulders. He turned around to stare into his eyes, hope clutching at his heart and threatening to tear it to pieces so plainly that Geralt couldn't bear it any longer.

"Again," he breathed.

"I love you," Jaskier repeated, hands coming up to grab Geralt's shirt to keep him close.

"Jaskier..."

"I love you."

"Jaskier, I..."

"I love you," he repeated once more, but this time, he all but pressed the words into Geralt's skin, his mouth brushing his neck as he embraced him. Geralt wrapped his arms around him in return, unable to stop a smile.

"You've been waiting for a long time, haven't you?" he mused, and another sob made Jaskier shudder. Geralt hummed.

"I love you," he cried, nearly a whimper.

"I'm not going anywhere," Geralt said, rubbing Jaskier's back as he stiffened in surprise. "I won't stop you from saying it, either. But there's something you should know."

"What?" he rasped, pulling away to gauge Geralt's emotions.

He felt his lips curve into a gentle smile, and he watched as Jaskier realized what he was about to say. He thought briefly about everything he'd told himself all these years, about how much trouble this was going to be, about how much it was going to hurt to see Jaskier grow old, and eventually leave him. He smiled some more, and he wiped some tears off Jaskier's cheeks, much like he'd done to Geralt before.

"I love you too, Julek."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my story :D
> 
> If you did, please consider leaving kudos or a comment, they're greatly appreciated!
> 
> If you’d like to create related content based on my fic, please visit my profile for my blanket permission statement!
> 
> If you want to yell with me and share more headcanons for these dorks, you can find me at my tumblr, [lenalawlipop](https://lenalawlipop.tumblr.com/), the comments section down below, or any of the links in my profile. Don't be shy!
> 
> Love,
> 
> ~Lena


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